U.S. envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, has met with leaders of the Taliban in Qatar to review the implementation of a peace deal with the Islamist insurgency aimed at ending nearly two decades of Afghan conflict.

A Taliban spokesman, while releasing details of Sunday’s meeting in the Qatari capital Doha, said Khalilzad was accompanied by Gen. Scott Miller, the U.S. commander of international troops in Afghanistan.
“Both sides talked about speedy release of the prisoners and commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations, in addition to other relevant matters,” tweeted Suhail Shaheen, who speaks for the Taliban’s political office in Doha.
Shaheen said Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the political deputy to the Taliban chief, led the insurgent delegation at Sunday’s talks. He noted that Qatar’s foreign ministry’s special envoy, Mutlaq al-Qahtani, also attended the meeting.
In a pre-visit announcement last week, the U.S. State Department had said the “primary focus” of Khalilzad’s trip will be to “obtain agreement between the Afghan parties on the practical next steps necessary for a smooth start to intra-Afghan negotiations.”